Luke Bryan Is New Female Co-Host of ACM Awards
Country superstar Luke Bryan will replace Reba McEntire as the female co-host of the 48th Anuual Academy of Country Music Awards to be broadcast April 7th on CBS from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The announcement was made when fans “unlocked” Luke Bryan’s name as part of a Twitter campaign by the ACM’s to rack up 25,000 tweets. Reba McEntire has been the female host of the ACM Awards for the last 14 years, co-hosting the event with Blake Shelton for the last two. Just like the superstar hosting duo of Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood for the CMA Awards, fans enjoyed Blake and Reba’s authentic chemistry and oddball humor. Reba decided to take this year off to focus on her new sitcom “Malibu Country.”
When it was revealed Reba would no longer be co-hosting and a successor for female co-host had been picked, many surmised it would be Blake Shelton’s superstar wife Miranda Lambert. Yesterday Blake Shelton explained how they came to pick Reba’s replacement.
Those are big shoes to fill and I didn’t want to do this thing by myself. To find somebody equal to that level of stardom, we pretty much gave up. So, we set the bar down a little bit lower. We decided we could find somebody that is just good looking, and we fell short on that goal. So starting over, we set the bar a little bit lower and finally thought, ‘If we can just get somebody that can read.’ This is country music, (so) that’s narrowing the field down.
Apparently Luke Bryan was the right woman for the job.
January 8, 2013 @ 6:20 pm
These sexist insults against Bryan are getting tiresome. Been reading your blog for a while now and while it’s usually good stuff, the “insulting a man by calling him a woman” thing is really off-putting. Same goes for the gay-baiting.
Not edgy. Not clever. Just lazy journalism.
Hate on the dude all you want, but don’t malign my gender by using it as an insult. And definitely don’t bring us down by comparing us to Bryan et al. 🙂
January 8, 2013 @ 8:47 pm
“Hate on the dude all you want, but don”™t malign my gender by using it as an insult. And definitely don”™t bring us down by comparing us to Bryan et al. 🙂 ”
Hear, hear! 😀
January 8, 2013 @ 10:00 pm
I agree with everything you said, except for calling it journalism. Chalk it up to a momentary lapse of reason, or the writing equivalent of an impulse buy. I seriously think I was having a brain aneurism when I was writing this. Why it didn’t occur to me it was a stupid idea until 5 minutes after I published it, I don’t no why. But once I push publish there’s no going back. I’ll recover.
But please, nobody is maligning your gender.
January 9, 2013 @ 9:37 am
“You’ll recover”? “There’s no going back”? “An impulse buy”? These are all just excuses you are making and not actually saying a damn thing. Saying you will recover is the worst. No one gives a shit about you “recovering” after you continually beat the same horse into the ground by degrading women with articles like these. It isnt about you, its about respect for women and your lack of it. Saying he is a pussy, a douche, a vag, a woman are low brow humor by a 7th grader that should have stopped back in the 70s. You continually say you are not meaning no harm by it but it just shows that you support it. Hell, you were called out on this in the comment section just recently in the past week and you say it is “an impulse buy”? Stop making excuses and try to squirm out of your sexist skin when you get called out on it. Be proud to wear your sexist skin, at least you would still have your integrity to go along with your 1850s style of viewpoints.
January 9, 2013 @ 10:39 am
Are you fucking kidding me? Are you honestly going to sit there and say that I’m sexist, especially in response to a comment where I ostensibly admit I fucked up? I will take the record of this website in promoting women in music and hold it up against any others. How does naming Kellie Pickler’s “100 Proof” my Album of the Year over a field of men fit into your sexist charge? How does championing young girls coming up in music like Ruby Jane and Paige Anderson fit into your charge? I’ve said for years I give women unfair advantages when it comes to coverage, and backed that up over and over again with my actions, and you, who’ve been here for years and been a solid contributor in the comments section should know that just as much as anyone else. Who called out the bullshit ACA Awards when they had not one female artist in their “Artists of the Decade” awards? ( https://savingcountrymusic.com/luke-bryan-is-new-female-co-host-of-acm-awards ) who called out Shooter’s XXX when they initially didn’t include one single female in their list of current artists?
This was an idiotic post and if it makes you feel any better, I barely slept at all last night beating the shit out of myself for posting it. But taking it down would be even worse, especially with the Shooter army so far up my ass right now.
This post was stupid, but it in no way was sexist unless that’s the over-sensitive way someone wants to take it. I’m making fun of Luke Bryan, not women, so please leave your reactionary political grandstanding off this site!
January 9, 2013 @ 2:25 pm
Connie Smith,Caitlin Rose,Neko Case,Lydia Loveless,Sarah Gayle Meech,Suzy Bogguss,Galea Bad Housewife,Rose Maddox,Elisabeth Cook,Rosies Flores,Jessi Coulter,Gillian Welch,Izzy Cox,Patti Griffin,Jessica Lea Mayfield,The Sadies,Dolly Parton,Getta Gaines,Carmen Lee,Six Gun Britt,Emmylou Harris,Iris Dement,Valerie June,The Secret Sisters,Shelli Coe,Those Darlins,Little Lisa Dixie,Samantha Crain,Lindi Ortega,Tammy Wynette,June Carter,Rachel Brooke,Devil Doll,Beth Bladen,Carrie Shepard,Brandi Carlisle,Eilean Jewell,Wanda Jackson,The Camptown Ladies,Tonya Watts…
…all female performers Triggerman has either spotlighted or promoted in a positive light at one time on this site. and that’s not even all of them.
January 9, 2013 @ 9:30 pm
The football player that killed his girlfriend then himself was strongly against domestic violence and even donated money and in college was part of a group that was against it and he often spoke at events for it. Does that mean he wasnt an abuser?
You can champion as many females as you like on here, point to pro-female things you have done, but having 1 derogatory thing against females (that you go to the well on often) comes off as sexist. It may be casual sexism, just like one can make casual gay jokes but not be a homophobe since they dont want to beat up gays, it is still a thin line you dont want to toe. I understand you leaving up the post, taking it down would look all sorts of shady and whatnot, but publishing an update to it apologizing or a whole new post might clear up issues that a few of us are seeing. It isnt my call since it isnt my site and I am not telling you to do it or saying you cant say what you say.
January 9, 2013 @ 11:32 pm
Being PC is gay. Quit being pussies Stacy & selfreliable.
January 12, 2013 @ 1:30 am
Is this a serious post? Calling Luke Bryan a girly-man is an insult to females? Seriously? Go back to under your bridge, troll.
January 12, 2013 @ 7:17 am
You a female, Spoony? If not, your post reminds me of a person who insults someone, then says the insultee is too sensitive for feeling insulted.
January 8, 2013 @ 7:12 pm
I figured they’d go the usual route of getting someone with a lot of radio airplay. Still, Kellie Pickler would be the best choice since she has the best personality and sense of humor, just like Blake, plus she made the best country album of 2012. And they definitely should keep the fairness and balance of a man and woman co-hosting, (same as Blake and Reba or Brad and Carrie at the CMAs), not 2 men (same as country radio). Now to be fair they need to have 2 women co-host next year. Yeah, like that’s gonna happen.
January 8, 2013 @ 7:26 pm
I dislike Luke’s music and think his feminine acts on stage are just a little disturbing, but all the same the joke is getting a little old.
January 8, 2013 @ 8:13 pm
Stacy, I hear ya and the only thing I really don’t like about country music besides it going too pop is the anti-female sexism, mainly radio giving 80-90% of airplay to males, leaving far too little room for the talented women. Chet Flippo’s albums of the year article mentioned that radio hates women:
“Where are the other women on my list? Tell me, where are they in country music these days? Radio, by and large, hates them. Therefore, the record labels face huge obstacles in selling and marketing them. Pickler was dropped by her major record label after cutting 100 Proof, the best work of her life and one of this year’s best — and most county. It was not pop enough for what is passing for modern country. Kellie, when I start my label, you’ll be up in the country penthouse, babe.”
http://www.cmt.com/news/nashville-skyline/1698160/nashville-skyline-my-favorite-things-from-2012.jhtml
http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1696676/miranda-lambert-wants-more-women-in-country-music.jhtml
I hate that hate. Maybe Trigger is also making a statement about it here? We need more serious articles speaking out against this unfairness. I can’t believe it hasn’t been outlawed. I think it’s a big reason why Kellie’s album didn’t get played, not just because it’s country and the lack of label support. There should be a law requiring radio to devote at least 40% of airplay to women if not 50/50.
January 8, 2013 @ 10:04 pm
I’ve always tried to openly give female artists an unfair advantage, especially young female artists, and I plan on continuing that pattern of behavior.
Speaking of award shows and excluding female performers, anyone remember when the illegitimate “ACA’s” named their top 10 artists of the decade and didn’t even include one female?
https://savingcountrymusic.com/amas-prove-illgitmacy-with-artists-of-the-decade-award
January 8, 2013 @ 8:50 pm
I was getting pretty sick of Reba, but surely they could’ve done better than Mr. Country Girl Shake It For Me?! :p
January 8, 2013 @ 9:36 pm
“the only thing I really don”™t like about country music besides it going too pop is the anti-female sexism, mainly radio giving 80-90% of airplay to males, leaving far too little room for the talented women.”
This is due primarily to the fact that the audience is disproportionately female. While it’s probably true that female preformers have always had a harder row to hoe (not just in country music), the business model of pop country heavily tilts toward women in the “soccer mom” demographic, which explains why aural trash like Rascal Flatts make such a killing. Sex appeal counts for a lot.
January 9, 2013 @ 1:56 pm
As a woman who listens to a fair bit of mainstream country, I can confidently say there is nothing sexy about Rascall Flatts.
January 9, 2013 @ 5:55 pm
The slightly larger female audience isn’t an excuse for what’s happening at radio though.
“For a while now, the dominant image of country radio’s target listener has been the suburban soccer mom, the presumption being that tender male balladeers are what it takes to keep her tuning in while she runs errands in her SUV. Here’s one problem with that idea: There’s not all that big of a gender disparity in the country audience, and poll results presented at this year’s Country Radio Seminar back this up. Women are in the majority, but not by much. What’s more, the musical impulses that are showing up in country right now don’t break down along gender lines the way you might think.”
http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/unpacking-the-audible-divide-between-countrys-solo-women-and-men/Content?oid=2858080
The male to female airplay ratio is highly disproportionate to the male to female listener ratio. What is it, about a 52% female audience yet radio gives 80-90% of airplay to male artists. That’s extremely unbalanced. I’ve also heard they have a rule to never play 2 females in a row, and any time I listen I hear about 10-15 men in a row. And plenty of male and female listeners love songs by female artists. Of the top mainstream females like Carrie, Kellie, Miranda, and Taylor, large numbers, maybe most of their fans, are female. From what I’ve seen, both genders also like the newer solo females like Kacey Musgraves. Radio industry polls prove all of this and are broken down by gender. See the “THIS WEEK AT CALLOUT AMERICA” box on page 2 here for a basic example:
http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/photos/pdf/2012/country_update_0107.pdf
I’m surprised to see Taylor at #1 but Begin Again is 1,000 times better than We Are Never. It’s mostly pop but not super annoying like Never, which I don’t think even hit the top 35 of Callout and shouldn’t have been released to country radio where it annoyed listeners and took up a spot for a better country song(s). It was purely promotion for record sales.
Also I’ve read comments from program directors saying men complain when they play pop, so why not play more women making country music?
Women also tend to be the best vocalists with the most range.
So I call BS on any reason for radio playing men over women as much as they do. I’d be fine with them giving 52% or even 60% of airplay to men but to be fair it needs to be 50/50. What happened to equality for women? Country radio is still stuck in the 1920s or 1950s. They continously break new solo male acts to the top 5 while rarely breaking solo females. And they play many mediocre male songs over better songs from females, songs both genders love and rate higher on polls.
I like the men and women about equally and the problem is people don’t get to hear nearly as many women to discover their music. Payola was outlawed and this is just as bad.
January 9, 2013 @ 3:33 pm
Little Known Fact : When Luke Bryan emplores “country girl” to “shake it” for him , he’s referring not to her lucious underside , but rather the guy’s dick that she’s standing next to .
January 9, 2013 @ 5:56 pm
Even though I haven’t cared for their recent output as far as music goes, I will say this is going to be an entertaining combination with Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan. ACM’s should hopefully have a step up from last year’s show that really wasn’t up to par (minus a couple of solid things that happened) with previous ACMs.
January 11, 2013 @ 11:46 am
Wow! So much butthurt. I can’t believe it. Somebody literally compared this to Jovan Belcher murdering his girlfriend. Wtf is wrong with you? And this is so tame compared to the stuff that used to be on this site. Triggerman, If you believe that this wasn’t your best article, that’s cool. But please don’t apologize for calling Luke Bryan a girl (he is) and please don’t cave in to all these politically correct douchebags that want to censor you.
Long Time Not Tiddy Tiddy Bits
January 14, 2013 @ 5:45 pm
[…] With his accent, this might be a train wreck.   […]